Questions more commonly known as Whining
I have quite a few questions about using blogs for education in a high school district that does not support social networking. Number one is … will my students be able to use or even view edublog sites? And if they can view it in September, will it still be available in June? But that is enough negativity for a Saturday morning.
Students and Classes
My students are digital photography and digital art students. I’m optimistic that when they walk into the classroom in September they are already interested in using technology. Alright, honestly there are some who take the class because they are afraid to draw in a “regular” art class, or it may be the only elective that fits in their schedule. The digital art class is an introductory class filled mostly with ninth grade boys. The gender balance is better in photography class and the students range from tenth to twelfth graders.
Planning for the future
I’m already creating a moodle to organize and manage my ‘08-’09 classes and assets. Last year I used dreamweaver and created a daily calendar for each class to share objectives and milestones. I may use a blog this year to share the same information. The advantage is that students would be able to respond directly with questions and additional information.
I’ve used wikis, blogs and podcasts as resources in my classes. Because of limitations by my district, I usually download the resources to my laptop at home and project them in the classroom.
I’m considering blogging for student journals or for students to respond to visual cues. My students often complain about writing assignments in an art class – it’s supposed to be a fun class, not an English class. Perhaps the technology pipeline will make writing more attractive for my non-writers.
